Now the prophet Elijah saw the Lord do great miracles. We read in 1 Kings 18 that Elijah had a showdown with the prophets of Baal to prove once and for all whose god was really God. At that place, the Lord showed Himself as the all-powerful Lord of the universe. Then, Elijah prayed and God ended the drought that had lasted seven years. Elijah was so excited at the victory that he even outran King Ahab’s chariot! But look what happened next. In 1 Kings 19:1-4, we read,
And Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done, and withal how he had slain all the prophets with the sword. Then Jezebel sent a messenger unto Elijah, saying, So let the gods do to me, and more also, if I make not thy life as the life of one of them by to morrow about this time. And when he saw that, he arose, and went for his life, and came to Beersheba, which belongeth to Judah, and left his servant there. But he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.
Stop for a second and think about this. Elijah just saw great victory over the prophets of Baal. God just proved Himself as omnipotent. So why did Elijah want God to take his life? He was not prepared for the counterattack. He forgot about the faithfulness of God. He chose to look at the circumstances rather than looking at the sustaining power of God, rather than pressing the battle, knowing that God would see him through, he chose discouragement, depression and defeat. Notice I said he chose.
Like Elijah, David also made a choice when he was facing the challenge of Goliath. That decision was an important factor in the outcome of that battle. Yet, unlike Elijah, he chose to remember the promises of God and God’s faithfulness. He knew he would win because he knew God was with him. Goliath was big, but David knew that God was bigger. In 1 Samuel 17:37 it says,
“David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.”
Many times, people think that just because they have given their lives to the Lord, it is going to be smooth sailing from then on. No, our lives will have difficult times. We must remember that there is an enemy out there who does not want us to have the victory. It is his specific purpose to thwart any effort to glorify God. He is going to put resistance, obstacles, and outright attacks into our lives. We need to keep that in mind so that we do not fold at the first sight of an attack. In all of that we can remember that we already have the victory, we just need to contend for it!
“Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called …”
1 Timothy 6:12
Be aware that resistance will come. Counterattacks will come, but we have a choice to make. Like the great powerful leaders in the Old Testament, we must choose between discouragement and confidence; between defeat and victory. Let us choose confidence and victory in the Lord. It has been said “We have read the end of the Book, and we are on the winning side!” Yes, but we must still press through to get to that end. Let us agree with the apostle Paul who says in Philippians 3:13-14,
“…this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
The enemy will not be able to take you by surprise. You will be ready for any counterattack. Take courage, no weapon formed against you is going to prosper!
